


C'est la canaille, et bien j'en suis

by elegantidler



Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux
Genre: Gen, Historical, Historical References, Misgendering, Original Character(s), Paris Commune, Pre-Canon, Sort Of, Trans Character, Trans Erik, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26058886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elegantidler/pseuds/elegantidler
Summary: There is a ghost haunting the unfinished opera
Kudos: 6





	C'est la canaille, et bien j'en suis

A small group of people moved through the unfinished opera house laughing and singing, their voices echoing through the empty building.

A young woman with dark frizzy hair danced out in front of them, skipping and twirling her skirts as she sang:

> “ _It's the artist, it's the bohemian_
> 
> _Who without breathing, rhymes dreamy,_
> 
> _A sonnet to the one he loves,_
> 
> _Tricking the stomach with the heart!_
> 
> _It’s on credit that he feasts,_
> 
> _That he lodges and that he has clothes!_
> 
> _It's the rabble, and yes I’m with them!_ ”

A round of applause rang out as the woman who had been singing turned and bowed enthusiastically to her tiny audience.

“Much better than anything the little emperor could have hoped to stage here,” she said with a grin. 

“Down with Badinguet III! Vive la Commune!”

“Three cheers for citizen Eliska, singer for the revolution!”

The group loudly made their way to the cleared area on the ground floor where they had been stationed for the night.

“Is there anything around to eat, Leo? I haven’t eaten anything all day.”

Leo patted his pockets to no avail and shook his head.

“Here, Nathalie, I have some bread.” Gustave reached out and passed it to her.

From where she sat on the ground, Eliska leaned back and looked up at the vast unfinished interior of the building.

“I can’t wait until we pick someone to finish this place. I want to sing here, I want to sing _for everyone_ here.”

Nathalie reached over and squeezed her arm.

“You will! And we’ll all be there every night, in the front row.”

Eliska’s smile could have lit the entire opera.

“But what about the ghost?”

“There’s no ghost, Leo,” Nathalie said, rolling her eyes.

“There is too a ghost, I’ve heard her! Some old singer who died all alone so now she sings in all the theaters in Paris. She sounded terrifying; I hope I never see her.”

"Hang on, Paule told me it was supposed to be some hapless worker who drowned in the lake," said Nathalie.

“The ghost isn’t a woman,” Gustave said, frowning at Leo before turning to Nathalie, "and Paule doesn't know what she's talking about." 

“How would you know?” asked Leo, a little hurt.

“Because I’ve seen him!”

“ _You’ve_ seen the ghost? And what does the ghost look like, Gustave?” Nathalie asked sarcastically.

“Like a well-dressed man, he's not some drowned worker. But…his face is all wrong, it looks almost dead,” he dropped his voice to a reverent whisper.

Leo and Nathalie burst out laughing.

“A well-dressed ghost! That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. You must have just seen some ugly rich man hiding out, afraid the Commune was going to get him.”

“I’m telling you, the ghost is a woman,” Leo insisted, “I’ve heard her singing.”

“That could have been anyone, hell it could have just been Eliska singing upstairs,” Nathalie scoffed.

“What do you think, Eliska?” Gustave asked, “You spend more time here than anyone else.”

Three sets of eyes turned towards Eliska.

“Well, I’ll tell you what I think,” she paused for effect, “The ghost is real, _and_ I’ve spoken to him!”

Gustave, Leo, and Nathalie all tried to speak at once.

Gustave spoke the loudest, “Tell! Tell!”

Eliska grinned. She was a born performer and loved having everyone held at attention. She took a deep breath and began:

“I was up on the roof last week, sending out another round of pamphlets to the provinces and I was singing to myself and all of a sudden I hear this quiet voice, and it said:

“ _You have a lovely singing voice, mademoiselle._ ”

“I tell you, I just about fell off the roof in surprise and I looked all around but there was no one there. I asked who had said that, feeling a little silly to be speaking to no one, but I heard the voice again and he said that it was just the ghost of the building and not to worry, I wasn’t in any danger. And I said of course I wasn’t in any danger, I had my gun! But I told him that _he_ would be in danger is he called me ‘vouz’ or ‘mademoiselle’ again! And then I heard a little cough and he said:

_“Pardon me, citizen.”_

“Imagine that! A ghost that says ‘tu’ and ‘citizen’!”

“And then what happened?” Gustave asked, eagerly.

“You _really_ want to know what happened next?”

Her three companions nodded vigorously.

“I asked him to help us build a barricade!” And she threw her head back and burst out laughing.

“Do you think the decree on night work applies to nighttime ghost work?” Gustave asked, half serious.

“I hope so,” said Eliska, “Maybe then he really would be able to help with a barricade.

She paused for a moment before looking up again and yelling towards the ceiling with a wide grin. “You hear that, ghost? I’m still waiting for you to come and help! We need all the hands we can get!”

Leo looked around nervously, “Knock it off, Eliska.”

“Oh calm down, Leo. The ghost can join the revolution if he wants to.”

Suddenly the front door opened and all four of them yelled in surprise.

A tall woman in a National Guard uniform strode in.

“You’re all jumpy tonight. Opera ghost stalking about?”

“Not you too, Louise,” Nathalie moaned, “Is there no one with any sense left?”

Eliska looked delighted to have another believer among them.

“Louise, do you think the ban on nighttime work includes nighttime hauntings?” She asked, excitedly.

Louise leaned on her gun and considered this.

“I would think so. Maybe if they didn’t have to haunt places every night they could spend more time with their fellow ghosts and no longer terrorize the hapless living. In any case, who is more deserving of the light of day than one who is completely cut off from his fellows like the dead?”

Eliska made a celebratory gesture and grinned wickedly at Leo.

“But ghost politics isn’t why I’m here. Ferré and I need supplies and defenders at the Perronnet barricade. Pack up what you can carry and meet us there.”

And with that she turned on her heel and headed back out into the night.

The foursome gathered medical supplies and cartridges and set out after her.

Eliska trailed behind, pausing in the doorway. She turned and looked back out into the empty building.

“Last chance, ghost! We're building a new world out there!” she called, and tilted her head to listen for any response.

But the opera house remained stubbornly silent. 

And a little sadly, she followed her fellow communards into the fight, humming _La Canaille_ to herself as she went.

* * *

High above her, a ghost stood in the shadows and watched them go.

As the sound of Eliska's voice faded, he picked up her melody and continued singing _La Canaille_ to himself.

 _And yes, I'm with them..._

The words echoed through the empty building as the ghost retreated back down below and the revolution continued on.

**Author's Note:**

> Eliska is singing [La Canaille](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwXNxPu_Ykk), an 1865 song enthusiastically used by The Commune in 1871. La canaille was a heavily politicized term meaning something like 'rabble' used to demean the revolutionary crowd as far back as 1789. It's also a term Leroux applies to Erik as an insult. 
> 
> The Commune staged several concerts at the Tuileries and planned on appointing an architect to finish the opera that Garnier had started as Garnier himself had fled Paris during the Prussian siege. They were defeated before they were able to do so. 
> 
> On April 20th 1871, the Commune banned nighttime work (largely bakers) on the grounds that forcing people to work nights excluded them from society and that 'it would be against all justice and all human rights to allow a particular class of workers to be separated from society in the interests of the aristocracy of the stomach.' The ban was overturned when the Commune fell.
> 
> The foursome are fictional characters but their names honor real communards; Eliska Vincent, Nathalie Lemel, Gustave Courbet, and Leo Frankel. The mentioned Paule is named for Paule Minck. 
> 
> Louise is the real Louise Michel and Ferré is Théophile Ferré. 
> 
> The little emperor is Napoleon III and 'Badinguet III' was a common insulting nickname for him in the Commune.


End file.
